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New GDP number not nearly as positive as Biden White House's spin. Here's why <[link removed]> – For American families, this has been devastating. Real disposable income is down 12% under Biden and the average worker has lost the equivalent of $3,000 in annual pay because prices have risen so much faster than wages. Higher interest rates add insult to injury, inflicting another $1,200 per year on average in higher borrowing costs. But that’s just the average. If you get a mortgage on a median-priced home  <[link removed]>today, it will cost you $10,000 more per year than when Biden took office. That’s $300,000 more over the life of the loan—for the same house. It’s no wonder homeownership affordability has dropped 33% under Biden. Savers have also been devastated by Biden’s inflationary and anti-growth policies <[link removed]>. The average 401(k) has lost 25% of its value in 2022, about $34,000 per person and $68,000 per couple. With prices rising so fast, many people are unable to save at all and are instead relying on credit cards to make ends meet. Monthly savings have plummeted 83% under Biden while credit card debt is up 23%. Things are equally grim looking froward. The dollar’s recent strength relative to other currencies signals that foreigners will be able to afford fewer American exports in coming months. That will exacerbate the trade deficit and be reflected in lower future GDP numbers as well. In that case, and unlike the third quarter GDP report, worsening economic numbers do reflect financial pain for Americans as reduced production means fewer jobs and less income. Heritage Experts:
EJ Antoni <[link removed]> and Joel
Griffith <[link removed]> 
 
Big Tech’s National Security Red Herring <[link removed]> - When considering antitrust reforms, Congress and the executive branch should look
past Big Tech’s self-serving national security arguments. Global companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon are not “national champions” like China’s state-sponsored tech companies, not least because they are entangled with the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. national security will be advanced by encouraging innovation from new competitors that place American values first. Moreover, many of the legislative reforms under consideration have been designed specifically to mitigate any national security concerns, and other policy tools can be employed to counter threats to cybersecurity and data privacy from adversaries like China and Russia. Policymakers should reject specious Big Tech–funded national security appeals and instead consider antirust reforms on their merits. Heritage Expert: Jake Denton <[link removed]> 
 
After Supreme Court Ruling, School District Will Reinstate Football Coach Fired for Praying <[link removed]> - Coach Joe Kennedy is headed back to the high school football field, eight years after he lost his
job <[link removed]> for praying on the gridiron. Kennedy won <[link removed]> his religious
liberty case before the Supreme Court in June after a long legal battle. The fight began in 2015, when the Bremerton School District in Washington state outside of Seattle did not rehire <[link removed]> Kennedy after he refused
to stop praying at the 50-yard line after games. On Tuesday, Kennedy and the Bremerton School District submitted a joint stipulation to a federal district court in Washington agreeing that Kennedy would be reinstated as a coach. “Kennedy is to be reinstated to his previous position as assistant coach of the Bremerton High School football team on or before March 15, 2023,” the agreement reads <[link removed]>. The Bremerton School District said in a statement that it has agreed with Kennedy to give him his job back, and that “Kennedy will be able to pray.” Following the Supreme Court’s ruling in June in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, Kennedy said all he ever wanted “was to be back on the field with my guys.” Heritage Expert: Virginia Allen <[link removed]> 
 
As border crisis continues, where should migrants go? <[link removed]> - With
Biden’s Open Windows border policies, more are going to come. The administration’s immigration policy team reportedly is planning a new program to allow ordinary American citizens or even temporary residents to sponsor refugees — all while making no effort to re-install the Migrant Protection Protocols or use Title 42 to reduce demand. Meanwhile, what about integrating and settling refugees successfully in our communities? What cities and towns are going to be able to sustain this unprecedented, relentless inflow of needy people, as we head into economic recession? Will the federal government borrow to pay for it indefinitely? Having let in a record number of illegal immigrants, even the Biden administration knows that not
all will be granted asylum and many have to be deported. What’s their enforcement strategy? The White House needs to answer these questions. So far, all they’ve done is complain about border governors sending illegal immigrants to Democratic strongholds such as Washington, D.C., New York City and Martha’s Vineyard. The White House accuses the governors of playing politics with these migrants, but the only reason they’re here in the first place is because of the administration’s political decision to open the border. Heritage Expert: Simon Hankinson <[link removed]>   
 
Yes, The U.S. Military Is Weak <[link removed]> – For nearly 20 years following 9/11, the U.S. military conducted operations that consumed platforms, munitions, and equipment purchased to fight the Soviet Union. Sadly, these assets have not been replaced at similar rates. As a result, the military is stuck with aged platforms and diminished inventories. America’s support to Ukraine has exacerbated the problem, as the Pentagon digs deep into existing inventories of weapons and munitions to help Ukraine <[link removed]> defend itself against Russia. Inventories are nearing war-reserve levels, and it will take years to replenish them.Though some new equipment is slowly being fielded, the force continues to shrink. A military barely able to handle one war is ill-equipped to do more. Should the U.S. be called to defend NATO partners in Europe, it will not be able to support Israel, Taiwan <[link removed]>, Japan <[link removed]>, South Korea <[link removed]>, or anyone else, anywhere else. Far from deterring competitors, this situation will embolden them, increasing risk at the worst possible time. In its current state, how can our military be assessed as anything other than weak? Honestly assessing U.S. military power is not “dangerous.” What is dangerous is to be weak and to not let the American people know it. Even more dangerous: a Pentagon in denial of the threats it faces and its own vulnerabilities. Heritage Expert: Dakota Wood <[link removed]>  
 
Biden knows his policies increase energy costs for Americans <[link removed]> – Americans know all too well that soaring energy prices have raised costs throughout the economy. What isn’t as obvious is that the Biden administration <[link removed]> knows it is blocking solutions that could decrease those costs. Such an embarrassing admission likely won’t come in President Biden <[link removed]>‘s next press conference. But it can be found buried in a 500-page report by the president’s Department of the Interior, sufficiently out of sight of Americans demanding answers from leaders. Interior recently closed the comment period for its 2023-2028 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program. The lease plan should have been done and agreed upon before June, when the previous five-year plan expired. Yet here we are, nearly five months later, with only a draft plan to study. The administration <[link removed]> is required, by statute, to produce the plan, which stipulates the location and the maximum number of offshore lease sales the federal government will hold. Roughly 15% of U.S. oil production comes from offshore, and 2% of U.S. natural gas production. Heritage Expert: Katie Tubb <[link removed]> 
 
Defense-industry competition is dwindling; should we fix that? <[link removed]> - Economic and military competition from a rising China is a top concern for U.S. policymakers. But the lack of competition in our defense industry also has profound implications for national security. In 1990, the U.S. boasted 15 major prime contractors in the defense field. Today, those have consolidated down to five. There are also thousands fewer firms lower down in the supply chain. Fewer firms mean less competition for government contracts. Instead of four or five firms bidding for aircraft, tank or submarine contracts, these days usually only two firms — and sometimes only one — will submit bids. Furthermore, these firms typically have only one supplier for a given component of that aircraft, tank or submarine, when in the past there would have been multiple suppliers to choose from. In free-market economic theory, competition leads to lower costs and more innovative products. So this lack of competition is a problem — but it may be a problem policymakers are unable to solve. The trouble is that the defense industry is not a free market. Heritage Expert: Maiya Clark <[link removed]>

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